Liquid dispenser



Jan. 14, 1930. H. M. mssY A 1".743,485

l LIQUID DISPENSER Filed Sep.l 28, 1923 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 14, 1930. H. M. Ross 1,743,485

4LIQUID DISPENSER Filed Sept. 28, 1925 I5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jag-Z- l :i Zdl Jan. 14, 1930. H. M. Ross 1,743,485

' LIQUID DISPENSER Filed Sept. 28, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Jan. 14, 1930 UNITED STATES HUGH M. ROSS, OF WOODHAVEN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T .ADRIANCE MACHINE WORKS,

PATENT OFFICE INC., OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK LIQUID DISPENSER Application led September 28, 1923.

My invention relates to liquid dispensers and more particularly, though not exclusively, to apparatus for use in bottle filling machines for dispensing a liquid, such as syrup, to be supplied to the bottle. One of the objects of the invention is to provide a liquid dispenser which is capable of dispensing liquid accurately and at a rapid rate. The operation of the important moving parts is preferably visible. Other objects, features 0 and advantages will appear more fully from the following detailed description and appended claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate an 5 embodiment of the invention suitable for dispensing syrup in a liquid dispensing machine as shown, for example, in United States Patent to Calleson, Reissue No. 14,657, dated June 19, 1919. l

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the dispenser. Fig. 2 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in section of the same.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of same; and Fig. 4 is a perspective View showing disassembled the various parts of the valve forming a part of the apparatus.

Referring to the drawings, the dispenser illustrated comprises two vertical fluid containers 1 and 2 of suitable capacity arranged side by side. These containers, as shown, are supported by a standard 3 which is carried by a bracket 4 adapted to be secured to thev frame of the machine of which the dispenser is a part. rIhe standard 3 forms a dividing wall for the valve casing which, as shown,

comprises casing members 5 and 6 secured to opposite sides of the standard 3. The portion of the valve casing enclosed by the casing 4o member 5 and standard 3 communicates through a passage 7 with a suitable source of syrup supply under pressure; and the portion of the valve casing enclosed by the casing member 6 and the standard 3 communicates with an outlet passage 8 which, in a filling machine of the kind described, leads to the filling head of the machine. Passages 9 and 1() communicating with the interior of the containers 1 and 2 respectively extend downwardly through the standard 3 from Serial No. 665,261.

the respective bottoms of the containers and communicate respectively with passages 11 and 12 each of which extends transversely through the standard 3 towards the inlet and outlet portions of the valve casing.

The movable valve member as shown is of the rotary type and comprises a suitable shaft 14 extending through and supported by the standard 3 and valve discs carried and rotated by said shaft and engaging oppositefaces of the standard 3 to control the admission of uid to and the discharge of fluid from the containers 1 and 2. As shown, the valve disc 15 on the inlet side of the standard 3 consists of a single plate which is held against rotation with respect to shaft 14 by a pin 16 projecting from a shoulder 14 on the shaft 14. The valve disc on the outlet side of the standard 3 is composed of three superposed plate-like members 17, 18 and 19. The members 17 and 19 are keyed to the shaft and'to hold the member 18 against rotation with respect'to the members 17 and 19 it is provided on one face with a projection 18 which fits into a recess in the member 19. The intermediate plate 18 is formed of suitable resilient or spring-like material, such as rubber. A nut 21 resting on the end of shaft 14 bears upon the valve plate 19 and serves in conjunction with the shoulder 14 and the shaft 14 to secure the valve discs in close operative engagement with the opposite sides of the standard 3'. The rotation of the valve discs with respect to the standard 3 keeps the valve and valve seats ground to a close t; and for a considerable amount of wear the valve is self-adjusting, the expansion of the normally' The valve discs are` formed with arcuate openings permitting communication between the valve casing and the passages 11 and 12 at suitable times in the rotation of the shaft 14.

The arcuate opening 24 in the valve disc 15 is arranged on the opposite side of the shaft Y 11 `and 12; the arrangement of these openings being such that while one of the containers 1 and 2 is receiving liquid, such as syrup7 through the opening 24 and the passages in the standard 3 communicating therewith, the other contamer 1s discharging its liquid through the passages in the standard 3 leading therefrom, through the opening 25 lintim valve .discs 17, 18 and 19 and through the outlet `8, and vice versa.

As the containers discharge alternately it is possible to secure a dispensing of the syrup, or other liquid, during each half rotation of the shaft^14 :and it is accordingly feasible to dispense the syrup or other liquid at a rapid rate without lexcessive speed or operation of the syrup dispensing device. 'As

shown the shaft 14 is driven from the driving .two so as to rotate one-.half revolution fory shaft ofthe machine through speed reducing gearing 26, 27 having a gear vratio of one to each cycle of operation of the machine. The bottle filling machine is accordingly adapted to operate at a relatively high speed Without excessive speed of the syrup dispensing device.

For forcing the syrup from the containers I employ means which are yielding, so that the device may be kept in operation ywithout the necessity of dispensing the syrup, if this would be desirable for any reason, such as the absence from the machine of a bottle to be Y filled. As more fully described in the United States patent to Calleson referred to above,

the syrup dispensing machine may contain a Vand 293 which limit the downward movement of the piston. The pistons are also provided with upwardly extendingY axial stems 2S4 and 294 projecting above the containersv so as to serve to indicate to the eyethe movement and Y j Vpositions of the pistons.

In order to cont-rol the amount of liquid dispensedv from each container upon each downward stroke of the corresponding piston, I have provided meansfor limiting the stroke of the pistons. These means, as shown, are in the form of stops to limit the upward movement of the pistons. These stops include a plurality of vertic-al stop rods 30 and 31 carried by a transverse supporting member 32 which in turn is supported by the rod 33 from the nut 34 whichis carried by the Yver- Inv tical adjusting screw 35. The nut 34 has a portion 34 which projects inwardly between the walls of the containers 1 and 2 as shown in Fig. 2 and is engaged by the said walls to hold the nut against rotation about the axis of the screw 35. The lower ends of the rods Y 30 and 31 are arranged to engage the rims 28 the containers 1 and 2 so -as to be readily accessible.

' For rotating the screws 35 and eiectingthe simultaneous adjustment of the stop mem` bers 30 and 31, I provide suitable means 'exterior of the containers 1 and 2, such as gears 38 and 39. The gear 38 is secured Vas by the pin 4() to the stem of the screw 35,the gear 39 being rotatably supported on the stud 41 on the collar 42. A crank or handle 43'is-secured to the gear 39 to rotate the said gear and from it the gear 38 meshing therewith and the screw 35. The lscrew 35, as shown, is held against vertical movement with respect to the containers 1 and 2 by being providedwith shoulders 44 and 45, the former of which engages the ilange 46 at the top of the containers and the latter of which rests upon the top of the collar 42 which in turnrests upon` the gear 38 which latter rest-s upon the flange 49 at the bottom of the container. To prevent rotation of the collar 42 about the axis of the screw 35, the said collar is formed with the extension 42 which Vis arranged between and engages the walls of containers 1 and 2.

Each of the containers may be provided at the bottom thereof with a suitable manually operated valve 5() to permit draining v of the Y liquid or venting of air from the container.

The upper end of the vent tube 50 communieating with the valve 50 is very near the lower face of the piston when the latter is in its lowermost position. Y l j f In operation, the rotation of the shat 14 brings one of` the arcuate valve openings, for

example the opening 24in communicationv with one of the transverse valve openings, for example the opening 12. The syrup will accordinglyv be forced under pressure from a suitable source of supply through the valve chamber and through the openings 24, 12 and 1()y into the container 1, elevating the piston 28 until the upper movement thereof is arrested by the stop 30, whereupon the supply Yof liquid to the container 1 will cease. At the Sametime as the container 1 is being thus supplied with liquid, the lowervportion of the container 2 will be in communication,

through the passages 9 and 11 and the arcuate valve opening 25, with the outlet side of the valve casing which communicates with the filling head of the machine. Assuming that the container 2 has been previously filled with the liquid to be dispensed, the gravity operated piston 29 will accordingly force the liquid to be dispensed from the container 2 through the valve to the filling head of the machine.4 Further rotation of the shaft 14 will move the valve opening 24 out of register with passage 12' and bring same into register with the passage 11 at the same time moving the valve opening 25 out of register with the passage 11 and into register with the passage 12. The liquid to be dispensed will now be supplied to the container 2 and discharged from the container 1. Further rotation of the shaft'will cause the operation described above to be repeated, each container being supplied with liquid and dispensing the same once for each rotation of the shaft 14 and once for two cycles of operation of the bottle filling machine. As one of the containers is discharged during each one-half rotation of the shaft 14, there will be a dispensing of liquid for each cycle of operations of the bottle filling machine. y

The above described invention permits operation of the bottle filling machine at a high speed while allowing ample time for supplying the liquid to and discharging the saine from the fluid measuring containers. The invention also permits very easy adjustment of the apparatus for varying the amount of liquid to be dispensed on each operation and has many other advantages which will be evident to those skilled in the art.

The presence of air under the pistons would materially interfere with accuracy in the amount of liquid dispensed, this air being' compressible under the pistons. The'valve 50 affords a means of venting this air, so that the apparatus will operate on the piston displacement principle to accurately dispense on each dispensing stroke of the piston the desired predetermined amount of liquid equal in volume to the volume of that portion of the container through which the piston has traveled. To vent this air, the pistons are forced to the bottoms of their containers, by pressing down on the tops of the piston rods 284, before the liquid to be dispensed is admitted to the containers and the valves 50 are thereupon opened until no more air vents, whereupon the valves are againclosed. To vent the air still in the liquid space of each container, the dispenser is operated to dispense the liquid from the container, whereupon the piston is forced down and the valve 50 opened. The air in the container, having been compressed between the liquid in the lower part of the container and the lower face of the piston, escapes through the valve 50. which is thereupon closed and remains closed during the further operation of the apparatus. Y

It is to be understood that changes and modifications may be made in the apparatus described in the foregoing description witli-.

out departing from the spirit of my invention.`

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. The combination of a plurality of fluid containers, a gravity actuated piston in each of said containers to force fluid therefrom, a stop for limiting the stroke of each of said pistons, a member supporting said stops and arranged exteriorly to said containers, and means for moving said member longitudinally of said containers to adjust said stops.

2. The combination of a plurality of fluid containers, a gravity actuated piston in each of said containers to force fluid therefrom, a stop for limiting the stroke of each of said pistons, a member supporting said stops and arranged eXteriorly to said containers, and means including a screw and nut for moving said membe-r to adjust said stops.

3. rlhe combination with a fluid container, of a valve for controlling the admission of fluid to and the discharge of fluid from said container, said valve comprising a member with inlet and discharge openings on opposite faces thereof, movable members for edecting the closing or opening of said openings, and yielding means for holding said movable members against said opposite faces respectively.

4.A The combination with a fluid container, of a valve for controlling the admission of fluid to and the discharge of fluid from said Container, said valve comprising a member with inlet and discharge openings on opposite faces thereof, rotary members for eecting the closing or opening of said openings, and yielding means for holding said rotary members against said opposite faces respecW tively.

5. The combination with a plurality of fluid containers, of a valve for controlling the admission of fluid to and the discharge of fluid from said containers, said valve comprising a member with inlet and discharge openings on opposite faces thereof, rotary members for effecting the closing or opening of said openings, and yielding means for holding said rotary members against said opposite faces respectively.

6. T he combination with a fluid container, of a valve for controlling the admission of fluid to and the discharge of fluid from said container, said valve comprising a member with inlet and discharge openings on oppo' ddermined quantities of liquid comprising in Y combination a plurality of liquid containers, a gravity actuated piston in each of said ccn- 'tamers tendi to. force liquid therefrom, said pistons belng movable independently of veach other, means for controlling the admission and discharge of liquid with respect to said containers, admitting liquid to and preventing discharge of liquid from either of gjm mid containers and simultaneously permitting discharge of liquid from and cutting olf the supply of liquid to the other container, valve means communicating with the interior y of each container belowits piston for venting fil; air from the container, a stop for limiting the stroke of eachof said pistons and means including a single operating member for ad justing said stops.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my Q name to this speciication.

HUGH M. :ROSS` 

